


Welcome to the Future

by Tezca



Category: Country Music RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Future Fic, Gen, Impulse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 22:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4155906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tezca/pseuds/Tezca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John gets drunk. John wants a break from the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to the Future

2000 years. 2000 years has gone by since when he was 20 minutes ago. 2000 years was enough time to put him far away from the events that transpired in his life. He was all riding high, finally living his dreams as a member of Lonestar when just like that, in just 10 minutes he was fired and was back to having no job. All of his life since he was 19 was Lonestar and making music with them, and he wasn’t even with them for too long. He was so sure that this was finally it and he was gonna be with the guys for a very long time. 

Now John found himself drinking in Nashville’s lesser known hole in the wall bars, wanting to get into someone secluded and private where he doesn’t have to deal with world. He started to feel like the world was mocking him when he saw his friends and just random people even going about in the music industry, looking busy writing and singing. He wanted a break, at least for a few days from everything. 

He had found the strange, metallic device in an alleyway. It was just laying down on the ground with a little note besides it. He thought it was some kind of watch until he read the note. It simply just said “Glitchy time machine, stupid shit doesn’t even work...piece of crap.” A part of his mind was questioning how was time travel possible while the impulsive, emotional side of him was telling him that it was his ticket out of there at that specific moment in time. For a little while at least, he could just blend it wherever he landed for a day or two then just come back.

He needed to figure how the damn thing worked first, but due to having been drinking for the past few hours, he wasn’t exactly in the best sober mind. He stumbled down the alleyway a bit under the cover of the shadows and decided to just pretty much fuck everything and set the time to a random time in the future and press the button.

That was how he ended up at pretty much the same spot, only now it was behind some bar/club business and it was daylight outside. John passed out however on the ground. He only woke up some time later, groaning at the developing headache, a consequence from all that drinking. He wasn’t even sitting up for 5 minutes until he heard someone calling to him. 

“You must be an idiot...” A women said, bringing a box of empty beer bottles to be recycled later. She just took one good look at him and noticed the device on his wrist.

John slowly stood up and stared at the women with the best glare he could manage despite still feeling the effects of the alcohol, “Is that how you people greet each other nowadays?...” He quips back, the women looking amused as a response. John still feeling annoyed.

“You have a time machine bracelet. The government deemed them illegal except for special exceptions….they were worried someone can use them to go back into the past and alter it to their own gain. You can get slap with a huge fine…about a thousand dollars I think.”

“Wait hold on a second, back up a bit. I don’t even know when the hell I’m at!”

“The year is 3998,,,” She looks at him in confusion while John felt his senses waking up at this very moment and his eyes widening.

“WHAT?!....”

It suddenly clicked together for the brunette women standing in front of him, “Well then whoever send that thing in the past is an even bigger idiot...you’re from the past aren't you...how far back?”

“1998...so I guess 2000 years ago.”

“Damn!”

“Yeah, well I’m only planning on just staying for the night, until I feel ready to deal with....umm..deal with my shit,” John said as honestly as he could without spilling the full details of why he came. He didn’t want to burden anyone with the issues he was having, “I’ll be out of your hair soon I promise. I’m John by the way.”

“Gretchen, nice to meet you. But I’m afraid its more complicated than that,..that device you have on…” Gretchen paused for a second thinking of a good way to put it, that the other reason why it was illegal was because it wasn’t really safe yet for general use. There was a big chance the user would wound up in the wrong time period. Most of the ones on the street on just prototypes hastily put together. She was about to speak up when suddenly the door opens and a tall blonde guy wearing some kind of a futuristic black headband stepped out.

“Hey Gretchen, coming back anytime soon,” He said with a light laugh and Gretchen smiled, already thought of a lie on the spot.

Gretchen was thankful “Yeah I am sorry, I just noticed this...homeless guy and I just offered him that bartender spot. Hope that was find Kenny I just…”

“Oh no that is completely fine Gretchen! In fact I commend you for helping out a fellow brother in need,” Kenny then faced John who had hid his hands behind his back just as Kenny started talking a second ago. He didn’t want to end up in trouble in the future, he wouldn’t know how it all worked in comparison to how the police worked and everything in his own time period. He didn’t want to risk it and Gretchen did say that apparently time travel isn’t legal, “Hey umm…”

“John, uhh John Rich sir.”

“Nice to meet you John. Do you have any experience working at a bar?”

“Umm..I can pick it up very quickly sir. I’m interested in the art of drinking beer and partying.” John joked, cracking a smile.

“That’s what I like to hear haha, you’re hired and Gretchen can train you.”

“Thank you sir,” Kenny gave him a friendly smile before heading back inside and John turned to Gretchen with a what the hell expression, “Homeless?...”

“Well to be fair your clothes are really outdated….no offense.”

“None taken..." John said. To be fair he probably did look a tad homeless even by 1998 standards. He wasn't too concerned about how he looked when he went on the town to drink his misery away. He followed Gretchen inside just as Kenny came back up with money in his hand. John also had quickly put the device under his hand before following.

"I just remembered, you should probably have some nicer clothes. I hate to have people give you shit...here take this, you and Gretchen can take a hour and go to the mall."

Gretchen took the money and looks up at Kenny, "But what about my shift? My shift starts in 15 minutes."

"It'll be fine Gretchen, work is slow enough that you can lose an hour. I can handle it," Kenny reassures her and she nods before grabbing John's wrist and pulling him towards the front door. 

Once they made it out she led him to her car which for the most part just looked like souped up version of the ones he knew. Only these seemed to be hovering. John just stared at the car and the ones passing by in amazement before being broken out of his daze by Gretchen, "We drive hovercrafts nowadays. In fact every transportation vehicle is hovercrafts and there's even hover boards that you can fly with."

John got in with his mind swirling with questions now, "Wow..."

Gretchen laughs, "Yeah. We can also teleport to places, but the range is limited so if you want to go to another city in a certain distant or abroad then you can either drive or fly," Gretchen started as she pulls out into the road, "I have to tell you though Kenny really loves flying through the sky on the hover boards."

"They sound like fun."

"So where are you from?"

"Amarillo, Texas."

"Texas? Cool...one problem though Amarillo doesn't exist anymore. Got destroyed in a freak tornado storm 150 years ago. You can say you're from Houston or Dallas instead."

"Alright then," John said with enough confidence that he was gonna get through this just fine. Tomorrow morning he'll just use the device to head back home.

"But then again I don't know if it would be believable with that accent of yours...sounds different enough that you might get funny looks thrown your way."

"Thanks....I feel confident now with the fact I'm gonna blend in nicely," John said with slight sarcasm, facing Gretchen before looking out to the road.

The two went to the mall and easily found some clothes for John to wear. She also mentioned that she and Kenny lived in the apartment above the club. Kenny had apparently get into the music business with a band called luvjOi, but they could never seem to land that magical record label. So they disbanded and Kenny decided to buy a nightclub with her about a few months ago.

"They came out with two albums, it's really good. I'm kinda actually hoping Kenny would give it another try haha...but that would mean the end of running a nightclub and why stop when said nightclub of ours is gaining popularity throughout Nashville and generating money to live for both of us."

"That sounds reasonable, yeah." 

"So um...may I ask what made you came over here?"

John paused in silence for a few seconds before answering, "I guess I just wanted to run away from the world for a little while...I just had some personal...issues that um...came up I guess. Needed a break." 

"I see."

“I promise I’m not here for nefarious reasons.”

“I believe you.”

The two made it back to the bar in 45 minutes and Gretchen lead John up to the apartment above the nightclub. Luckily Kenny was downstairs wiping off the tables so Gretchen and John were alone. They had ended up buying a few shirts and a couple of jeans. John took them into the bathroom and a couple of minutes later came back out.

“The Stetson stays.”

“Really outdated thought...screams 2000 years ago,” Gretchen laughs and gives him a smile, “Fair enough, there are people out there who are into whole...wearing old stuff thing. I know my brother is. Wait I might even have a better old kind of cowboy hat that he gave me same color…” Gretchen said as she went into her room and brought out a black cowboy hat, “Circa 2000s so not to far off from where you came from.”

“I can handle that,” John said, swapping the hat and looking in the mirror and lightly jokes, “I still look good.”

With that they went back downstairs and Gretchen spend the rest of the afternoon teaching John and bringing him up to speed on what to expect when it get busy at night. She also told him that they use holograms now to process orders and everything, “We also have holograms for general use to like holographic watches and shit.”

John nodded as he was wiping down the bar. She also mentioned that each table also doubles as a teleportation portal for the drinks and food, “Low energy teleportation, plus it can sense the object to make sure it’s food or a beer before sending it to them or back.”

“Gotcha...I think.”

“And you have to first press the number corresponding to whatever seat the customer is sitting at a table before pressing the send button...don’t fret if you take some time to get it.”

“Um thanks,” John said, his mind still trying to parse all the information she just told him. The night went about as smoothly as it could with someone like him. He was expecting to have more trouble with the high tech of the future, but surprisingly he only screwed up a few times. Gretchen and Kenny were very patient with him if he messed up and pressed the wrong button. He would just play it off as being “holographic technically challenge.”

“Kenny seems like a nice helpful guy down there, would’ve he freak out if we told him about me.” John genuinely asked hours later when he and Gretchen went back up to the apartment. Kenny was downstairs locking up the place.

Gretchen looks at him and shrugs, “No, well I don’t know actually...I mean he probably won’t, he is a very nice guy, totally laid back and the hippie farmer son type. He likes the concept of time traveling as do I, but I don’t know for sure. Time traveling is kind of a political issue here, 2000 years and it's now that we just figured out how to time travel, and I didn’t want to deal with shit you know. I was in a huge debate about something unrelated but political two days ago and I need a break,” Gretchen explained, crossing her arms.

“I getcha, I can be outspoken myself, but sometimes I need a damn break,” John gave a friendly laugh just as Kenny came in and asked John to come down with him so he could show him what he did to lock up the place should it be his turn. 

Gretchen took to watching some tv in the living room while the boys were downstairs. She figured they may be down there for 20 more minutes, but went it turned into 45 minutes she was getting a little concern. Did a break in somehow occurred? But if that was the case then she would hear the alarm going off. She left the the tv going and got up to go down. Maybe John ended up not being who he said he was in the worst possible way, if that was the case she would hunt him down and kick his ass, but his demeanor earlier never gave off anything that was off to her. 

And if she still had any doubts, all of them were washed away when she noticed Kenny at the bar drinking a shot of Scotch and what appeared to be the device on the counter broken. She also noticed an old looking phone besides it. Gretchen approaches him and waits a few seconds before she spoke up, but Kenny ended up speaking before she did, “I’m pissed…”

“Pissed at me for lying earlier about John?”

“No, I can see why you did that...I’m pissed at whoever the hell send a shoddy excuse for a time traveling thing into the past,” Kenny exclaimed, taking a deep breath, “I feel horrible...I feel so...I had to tell him that he only got here just by dumb luck. That thing is so….glitchy that you could end up in any point in time but the year you’re aiming for, too risky. You should only use that prototype with the way it's acting if you don’t mind being send forward or backward to a random point in. I feel so horrible...he’s not gonna see his family again Gretch.”

“Where is John?”

“He ran into bathroom upset...I don’t blame him.”

“Me neither. How did you find out about the bracelet Kenny?”

“It started making a beeping noise under his hat....needed to be charged," Kenny said. He didn't know what to do exactly about all of this. The kid was out of his time and would need to adjust to how the world ran nowadays, "I asked him to give me whatever was beeping inside his hat, he tried to play it off like it was his phone instead. I ended up stomping the bracelet in front of him."

"Oh. You should go talk to him then, I don't think he knew what he was doing..."

"Of course he wouldn't, time travel wasn't a thing in his his time. I wonder what made me do this?"

"He said it was personal issues....he wanted a break from whatever happened."

"Well I go talk to him you can go to bed or watch tv or whatever," Kenny said and Gretchen nods and gives him a nice smile before walking back up the stairs. He finishes his glass before walking into the mens bathroom. John was sitting up against the wall on the other side with his arms around his legs and his hat in his hands. His head was in his arms and didn't look up when Kenny walked in and took a seat next to John.

Kenny took a minute to figure out how to start everything off, he felt sorry for John. He still had John's phone in his hand, he must've absentmindedly grabbed it on the way in. He took a few seconds to look at the black cellphone before speaking softly, but clearly, "It wasn't your fault...it was the guy who made that device. He or she was an idiot to think safely disposing it by way of sending it to the past was a good idea. I apologize if I made it sound like it was."

John sniffed and peaked his head up at Kenny, "It's ok..."

"Do you mind telling me what exactly led you to use the...device?

"I was fired from a band called Lonestar, right before my birthday....I've been in the band since I was 19."

John wiped his tears away as Kenny put a comfortable arm around him, pulling him into a consoling, friendly hug. The two felt tired however and John ended up falling asleep so Kenny put the hat on his head and the phone in his pocket before getting up to his feet with John in his arms. He walked up upstairs and put John down on the couch. Despite the smallish size of the apartment, they did have a spare room, but Kenny felt so tired he didn’t think of it right way and just went to his room to crash. They both silently agreed to continue the conversation tomorrow.

The next morning John was still laying down on the couch, awake but refusing to get up at the moment. He was facing the couch, his mind blank on nothing but what this means for him now. Namely the fact the he wasn’t gonna see his family ever again. He was grateful though that he ended up with a couple of nice people, it certainly could’ve gone worse, or a lot worse. 

Kenny came out first in a white tanktop and jeans, walking to the kitchen to get breakfast started. Luckily they didn’t have to prepare the nightclub until around early afternoon and that particular morning he was especially glad. He wanted to talk to John and comfort him. Be a friend to him as it comes naturally to him, 

Gretchen came out about 10 minutes later and Kenny handed her some coffee he just brewed. Sensing the sober, bit melancholy air, surrounding the living room from what happened last night, she got the feeling Kenny wanted to talk to him some more and probably some privacy might be good. Plus she didn’t want to accidentally make things awkward, “I noticed yesterday someone had broken a glass or two so I’m gonna go down to the store and...buy some replacements,”

“Hmm? Oh...uhh thats a good idea Gretchen, and feel free to pick up a donut or something on the way there.”

Gretchen smiles, “Thanks Kenny.” With that she turns around and heads out the door leaving just Kenny and John. 

Kenny got another cup of coffee for John and walks out to the living room and set the cup on the table in front of the couch before he sits down next to John. A minute goes by before he attempts to start the conversation off, “If it’s any consolation I would also want to strangle the guy who made the device and indirectly Lonestar.” John heard him talking but didn’t really look at him.

“I..umm..brought some coffee if you want some.”

“Thanks,” Came the soft reply, John still didn’t look up.

“I would be really upset too if I couldn’t see my family ever again..I have three siblings, two brothers and a sister, plus my parents. All older than me of course, I’m the baby in the family haha,” Kenny said with a light laugh, half attempting to coax John out from his little spot on the couch. All he could see of him at the moment was just his brown hair. Another half a minute passed by without a response so Kenny just kept going in a careful sort of way, “I take it they are a wonderful family if you are missing them this much.”

John finally peaked his head up to look at Kenny, the blond had on a friend and sympathizing expression on his face. John moves around to sit up, “Yeah they are...my dad is a preacher and my mom still lives in Tennessee, they got divorced though when I was 11 or 12, they’re great parents, they’ve raised me well. And I got three siblings too, though I’m the oldest. Two sisters and a brother.”

“Cool yeah, I wouldn’t know where I’ll be right now if I hadn’t been raised in such a loving family.”

“Same here. My grannie is still alive too...or well was alive I guess relatively speaking. I loved her, she was everyone’s grandmother.”

Kenny nods and the two share a more comfortable air between them in comparison to a few minutes ago.

“So yesterday would’ve been your birthday huh, how old are you?”

“24.”

“I’m ten years older than you, 34,” Kenny said before he suddenly stops to think for a second, working out some math in his head before facing John, “Actually no technically you’re way older than I am, you’re 2024 years old...you just don’t look it,” Kenny quips which brings a smile and a laugh from John.

“Holy shit you’re damn right,” John half exclaimed, laughing. He felt noticeably more at ease talking to Kenny. He sounded like he would be a wonderful friend to have around, both he and Gretchen really. Kenny then turned on the morning news and John leans back to watch it with him. It was to be expected that a lot of things would happened in 2000 years. And plus all the new tech that he is seeing is starting to make him feel a bit overwhelmed. He knew that was what he was feeling watching Kenny take out a small, rectangular thing that looks like it was a phone. He touches the screen and a little holographic screen popped up.

John was looking at him in confusion before turning his gaze down aimlessly. Kenny notices him out of the corner of his eye. He can obviously tell he hasn’t seen anything like it at all, “This are what phone are nowadays, we can go on the internet on them and do video chat too, there’s even wrist versions of these too...“ Kenny mentioned before he took an once over of John and got the feeling he was probably feeling overwhelmed a little bit.

“How are they able to do that...I mean...did they just started doing that now?”

“No, actually it would’ve all been started around the early 2000s so around your time. No holograms yet obviously….probably all overwhelming isn’t it?”

“A little yeah.”

“Don’t worry me and Gretchen will help you. So would Troy, he’s another friend of ours. He’ll like you, just have to explain everything to him first,” Kenny stated right before his phone started ringing. Kenny put the phone on the table and turns it on video chat mode, moving his hands to make the screen a bit bigger before a woman pops onto the screen.

“Hey Charlene..” Kenny said before turning to John then back at the screen, “This is my sister. Charlene this is John.”

“New friend of yours? Hey John.” Charlene said with a friendly smile.

John just waves with the least amount of energy due to not really feeling in the mood to be more upbeat. “Hey.”

Charlene looks concern, “Did I call at a wrong time Kenny? Did I accidentally interrupt something?”

“Kinda, not really,,,,” Kenny took a breath and looks at John then back at Charlene, “Um I need to tell you something, are you the only one at home right now….I think the less I tell might be better in this case for John’s sake. Don’t want to appear on the news.”

Kenny is smart to figure out that news coverage of this might not be the best idea ever John thought. He was grateful 

This caught Charlene’s attention and she had a curiosity to find out what her brother was talking about. Of course she can keep it on the downlow. She first checked to make sure she was alone before turning her head back in view, “Yeah I’m alone, boyfriend left for work. Just me and my cat.”

“Ok good. John from the past. From 2000 years ago.”

“What?! How did that happened...time travel wasn’t a possibility back then Kenny.”

“I know. It turns out someone was idiotic enough to send one of those stupid time bracelet things into the past.”

“Wow, so how did John came across that tech?”

“In an alleyway. He was drunk and had his dream career being taken away earlier in the day.”

“Oh. What was your dream career if you don’t mind me asking?”

John looks up at the screen when he realizes Charlene was asking him a question, “To be in a band and singing country music. That’s what I wanted to do with my life, and I joined this band called Lonestar, live out my dream for several years and then had it taken away just like that in 20 minutes.”

“Oh you like to play country music too? My dream is to also be in a band and play music for the people out there,” Kenny said, feeling happy that they have a common dream to bond over, “I like rock music but I also love country music too.”

John perks up at hearing as Charlene adds on, explaining that Kenny was exposed to rock and country music video his older brothers playing them in the car when he was younger. She also mentioned that he knew how to play the guitar and John adds that he can play as well.

“That is cool. I have a guitar in my room, I want to hear you play,” Kenny said, happy to see John finally smiling and feeling at least a bit better now.

“But the guitar you’re used to might be different to what I’m too.”

“It’ll be fine John, surprisingly the guitar hasn’t changed to much since both acoustic and electric were invented, the basics are the same. But it has been adapted to new tech and all of the electric guitars are fitted with build in amps now. More discreet than what you’ve probably seen. I heard they been around the mid 1900s.”

John shrugs, “I don’t know, sounds about right.”

Kenny smiles and left to go get the guitar from his room. It took a quick amount of time for him to grab the guitar from his room and bring it out, “You can turn on the holographics on and off.”

“There’s holograms on this too?”

“Yeah, you can make brilliant displays of light on the front of the guitar and have lights show up in correspondence to the notes if you wanted to do that too.”

“Cool,” John said, strumming the guitar a bit before looking back up at Kenny not sure what song to do, “What song would you like me to do?”

“How about that song that came out last year...umm the really popular rocking techno/country dance tune,” Kenny suggested as he was trying to think of the name, momentarily forgetting when John came from so he was confused when John shot him a confused look, “It was on top of the charts for several weeks…”

“Umm Kenneth..."

"Yeah?"

"He came from 1998. He is not gonna know what song you are talking about much less know how to play it…” Charlene chimed in and Kenny reacts by blushing a shade of red in embarrassment. John just laughs softly at how he looks, he really was feeling more at ease relatively speaking just seeing the casual way Kenny acts and how helpful he is being. 

Oh sorry. Why don't you just play whatever you know," Kenny said and John nods. John told them he'll play a song he wrote called I Pray For you before strumming and singing. The Alphin siblings were listening intently during the duration of the song, John looks at the two, realizing that they may find it outdated in ways. His worries were unfounded judging from the smiles they had on their faces.

“That was really good John, and you said you wrote this?”

John nods, ‘Yeah.”

“It was also refreshing to hear. After hearing a year of nothing but the same old tired trend that;s been going on in country music today….feels like I haven’t lost any of my sanity,” Charlene quips with a laugh and the three talked for a couple of more minutes before she had to go. 

After he closed the screen and picks up the phone, he turns to John with a big friendly smile, “That was really good John! That was a beautiful song!”

“Thanks Kenny,,,I’m surprised I still remember the wrods. I only written it a few days before I came over here.”

Kenny chuckles, “Well we can record it then write it down.”

“Thats a good idea, so you can record stuff on that?”

“Yep! High quality too, I’ll show you...and before I forget to mention I also write songs myself, I think you’ll like one or two of mine at least haha,” Kenny quips and he feels happy to see John smies and looking more at ease. He set up his phone to start recording while John absentmindedly strums lightly, the air comfortable between them now, “So you’re feeling...better now?”

“Yeah, I mean you’re definitely helping me so far,” John paused in silence for a moment, “I still can’t believe I’m not gonna see my family again…” He said softly in a honest tone.

Kenny put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “You’re never gonna stop missing your family….but you’ll get better at handling it as time goes by. Plus maybe writing a song might help, it also works for me whenever I’m feeling emotional or angry.”

“Yeah, yeah lets try that. Music has always been therapeutic for me.”

“Why don’t we record the song you just played first then I can play you some of my songs.”

“I think I would like that Kenny,” John said with a smile. The two ended up with two recordings of I Pray For You, the logical reasoning was having a backup just in case, but John thought he could do a better job of singing it and more clearly so he ask Kenny if they can do a second take. By the time the boys finished, Gretchen has just gotten home and she can tell that her friend Kenny had made him feel better.

Kenny and John walks over to greet her and he told her what had happened before facing John, “You can still keep the job here if you want and we have a spare room you can use.”

“Oh really? That's...that is nice of you Kenny.”

“No problem,” Kenny said, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder before looking at the time. Kenny honestly thought it would be easier all the way around for John if he lives with them. That way they can help him ease his way into their world and it won’t feel as overwhelming as it would if they just threw him out into the street. Plus it was the nice, decent thing to do for someone in this situation. He doesn’t want to be an ass like someone else might be.

And at least there is one commonality John has with the both of them really to make this transitioning into living in the future be a more smoother ride. that is making music and writing songs.


End file.
